Log Entry No 1 - 24 Aug 08. (Discoverer)

FROM THE CAPTAINS CABIN

Adam & Steve winching hard.

The young trainees from various units supporting the expedition departed from Trenchard lines Upavon, and made there way to Stansted on Tuesday 19 Aug on arrival they were met by the members of the Afterguard who would be accompanying them on their maiden voyage.  After an uneventful flight via Norwegian Air the crew touched down in Tromso “Norway”.  The expedition officer Maj Richard Pattison was there to meet and greet them.  The crew was duly delivered to the yacht Discoverer and after introductions to the Skipper Becky Walford (JSASTC) people hit their bunks for a 0730 reveille call.

Wed 20 Aug was spent emptying the yacht of all its kit and equipment; repacking and stowing kit that would not be needed for the expedition’s final leg and issuing foul weather and safety equipment.  They were then dispatched down to the nearby supermarket to get victuals (food) for the coming days.  Once the boat was ship shape and ready for departure the crew familiarized themselves with the boat, particularly its engine and water systems.

The evening was given over to a run ashore in Tromso with the crew quickly determining the best watering holes; not least because Jamie fired up with stories about how Norwegian women love men with ginger hair asked a local very attractive women for her take on the best place to socialise.  Despite the high cost of living in Norway with many food stuffs expensive compared to the UK, the warm welcome offered by the people of Tromso and the interest passers by took in our expedition and the yacht more than made up for dents in our wallets.  Tromso is highly recommended as an enjoyable destination by the crew.  The staff at the Clarion Hotel on the water front were particularly hospitable and allowed us use of its washing facilities and for 50Kr each allowed the crew to use its well maintained sauna, steam room and shower, which has far reaching views over Tromso harbour.

Mexican theme night.

Discoverer has two heads, one of which required a pipe replacing.  The role of ships plumber was delegated to Steve, the ATRA instructor, whose trade in the Royal Engineers is as a plumber (as well as Combat Engineering).  Scott had four months training as a plumber before joining the Queens Royal Hussars so he became Plumbers Mate and together he and Steve spent the morning fixing the heads while the rest of the crew prepared the yacht for departure in the Afternoon.  Owing to little wind, the yacht motored to an anchorage off Hestoy Island (28NM south of Tromso) and the first anchor watch of the exercise with crewmen taking two hour watches.

Following a quiet night, Discoverer set off for Harstad and for the first time we enjoyed good winds; enabling the crew to undertake sail training, particularly focusing on man-over-board drills.  Not only did many of the crew experience yachting in choppy seas for the first time but a couple were soon reacquainted with their lunch.  We arrived in Harstad at 1930hrs and after squaring away the yacht for the evening, many of the crew went into town to view the sights.  Matt and Steve found a restaurant and bar called De 4 Roser, the staff of which provided free Danish pastries left over from the day’s business.  The barman also suggested that the areas of Svolvaer and Henningsvaer would be good places to visit, which corroborated knowledge provided by other yachters’ to the crew.

Dolphins were sighted for the first time on 23 Aug while we were on route to Lodingen, which is a small fishing village set among the mountains.  The morning had been spent continuing man-over-board drills and familiarizing the crew with the staysail.  Red watch surpassed all previous cooking efforts by rustling up a Mexican theme night completed with tequila slammers (orange squash in egg cups) and sangria (blackcurrant squash in a jug). 

The sun finally came out on Sun 24 Aug and owing to the yacht running with the wind, we were able to fly the spinnaker, requiring most of the crew to work in unison; so most of the day was spent with the engine off, with the crew enjoying the long views across to towering snow capped mountains.

WO2 Matt Jarvis

FROM THE FOREDECK

Adam & Josh hard at work.

We arrived in Tromso on the Tuesday, staying in the harbour for a few days while we sorted out  what kit we had on the boat and vital the boat.  A few of us decided to venture out into the town  where we attracted the attention of the locals who wanted to know why we were here on a yacht and where we where sailing to. The following day, one of the heads broke so Steve and Scott had to get down and get dirty to fix it, that took a few hours. We then found out that the engine was leaking diesel, so Mike set about fixing that with assistance from Dave and Chris. On Thursday the 21st at about 5pm we finally set off, after an anxious wait for a few of us.  We dropped anchor at Hestoy island where we set up 2 hour watches, to make sure that boat didn’t float away. On the 22nd we moved off to Harstad, we had good winds so we had some good sailing with 3 of us feeling rather seasick, including me. We were taught man over board drills which was good but harder  work than you think.

Private Callum Daly (PWRR)

Once we eventually set sail from Tromso, we spent the fist day or so being taught the necessities  of sail training, learning all the name parts on the boat; After that we started a bit of tacking and practicing man overboard drills which made me realise just how dangerous it can be and how long it can take to rescue someone especially in bad weather conditions.  It took the team 15 minutes to rescue the casualty but another 30 mins to collect the Dan Buoy, owing to an increase in wind strength.

Trooper Scott Armstrong (QRH)